Chicago Sun-Times

BITTER BILL

In stunning defeat for Trump and Ryan, Republican­s fail to secure votes to repeal Obamacare

- Erin Kelly, Eliza Collins and Deirdre Shesgreen

In a stunning defeat for Republican­s, House Speaker Paul Ryan on Friday canceled a vote on the GOP bill to replace Obamacare because he did not have enough votes from his own members to pass the legislatio­n.

“We came really close today, but we came up short,” Ryan said at a news conference after he pulled the bill from the House floor. “I will not sugarcoat this: This is a disappoint­ing day for us. Doing big things is hard.”

Ryan and other Republican leaders said they will move on from health care to tax reform, Southwest border control and other issues, essentiall­y giving up on their No. 1 legislativ­e priority for the fore-

seeable future.

“Obamacare is the law of the land,” Ryan said. “It’s going to remain the law of the land.”

The failure to pass the bill is a major blow to both Ryan and President Trump in their first big legislativ­e test since they won back the White House and retained control of the House and Senate in last fall’s election.

It also underscore­d just how divided the party is, with factions of hardline conservati­ves and moderates rebelling against their own leadership.

Repealing and replacing Obamacare was a major campaign promise made by Trump and scores of GOP House members and candidates in last year’s election. But they were never able to agree on the bestway to achieve their goal.

Trump threw his weight behind the Republican­s’ replacemen­t bill, cajoling House members to vote for it. Ryan made it his top legislativ­e priority, exhorting members to take action on what he called their best chance to replace Obamacare’s government mandates with a patientdri­ven system.

“Wewere very close,” Trump said after the vote was canceled. Ryan said he had told Trump at a midday meeting that they should scrap the vote and Trump had agreed.

But Trump said he did not blame conservati­ves in his own party who would not vote for the bill. “I’m disappoint­ed, because we could have had it,” he said. “I’m a little surprised, to be honest with you.”

He also blamed Democrats, saying that passing the bill without them was a “very difficult thing to do.” He said Democrats now “own” Obamacare and must take responsibi­lity for its problems.

“They own it; 100% own it,” Trump said. He said he will do what he talked about on the campaign trail and “let Obamacare explode.”

Rep. Luke Messer, R- Ind., a member of the House GOP leadership team, declared health care dead for the year. Moreover, he said, it will be harder to get tax reform done nowin thewake of the GOP’s failure on its health proposal.

“It’s a sad day for America,” Messer said.

But Democrats rejoiced. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California called it “a victory for all Americans.”

“Democrats, united by our shared values, have stood strong against the disastrous TrumpCare bill,” she said.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D- N. Y., said the bill failed because Trump couldn’t close the deal.

“They can’t write policy that actually makes sense, they can’t implement the policies they do manage to write, they can’t get their stories straight, and today we’ve learned that they can’t close a deal, and they can’t count votes,” Schumer said. “Somuch for the ‘ Art of the Deal.’ ”

Lawmakers debated the bill on the House floor for more than five hours before Ryan canceled the vote.

The debate began after the House Rules Committee adopted changes negotiated Thursday between Trump and House Republican­s. Among other things, they would have eliminated minimum requiremen­ts for insurance plans to cover 10 “essential health benefits,” including maternity care, emergency room trips and prescripti­on drugs.

The changes were an attempt to attract Freedom Caucus support. But many of those caucus members remained unsatisfie­d, and the changes did not sit well withmodera­te Republican­s.

 ?? PABLOMARTI­NEZ MONSIVAIS, AP ?? President Trump speaks to reporters about the health care bill Friday in the Oval Office.
PABLOMARTI­NEZ MONSIVAIS, AP President Trump speaks to reporters about the health care bill Friday in the Oval Office.
 ?? MANDEL NGAN/ AFP/ GETTY IMAGES ?? Rep. Paul Ryan
MANDEL NGAN/ AFP/ GETTY IMAGES Rep. Paul Ryan
 ?? AFP/ GETTY IMAGES ?? Speaker Paul Ryan admits defeat.
AFP/ GETTY IMAGES Speaker Paul Ryan admits defeat.

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